Core Coffee and the Spirit of God

Yesterday in a very small room I had coffee with the Spirit of God and some women I barely know.

Paper plates were loaded with fruit, lemon bread, and the required "Chick-Fil-A@ Chick-n-minis that these gatherings seem to rely on to fuel attendance.  Small talk was taking place as the women sat in hard folding chairs so close that their knees were touching.  The facilitator, ever prompt, began with one single request.  Describe a time when you absolutely know that God showed up.

So much for small talk.  It was as if the door opened and the true guest joined us.

One woman shared about the time she was revived in a hospital bed where her family had gathered, certain that this time she would not pull through. Another shared of her journey through cancer and the devastating new diagnosis.   A third told the story of losing her beloved sister unexpectedly.  Next came the woman whose nine year old daughter suffered a traumatic brain injury and wasn't going to survive, or if she survived, she certainly would never walk or function on her own.  Then came the heart wrenching story told by the tearful mom who quietly recalled the night she had to endure the procedure to free her dead child from her womb.  Woman by woman, the room filled with stories of impossible situations, consequences of unforgiveness, drug abuse, divorce, homelessness, poverty and death.

As I listened to story after story I thought of the despair and brokenness that each lady had experienced. I also came to realize that each lady had also experienced something else. It was all over the faces of the women in that room.  It could be seen in the eyes of the storyteller and of those listening, nodding, slightly smiling, comforting each other.

You might wonder - Were these ladies gathered at a grief counseling meeting? a group therapy session? Perhaps we were gathered at a book signing of the latest self help book on dealing with adversity? Was there a world renown counselor in town sharing his thoughts in a seminar?

There most definitely was a Counselor in the room.  Each story revealed how the Counselor had come alongside in the moment of the deepest despair, the greatest loss and given just what was needed for that time in a broken life of the woman speaking. Each story concluded the same way, revealing the glory of God.  We each experienced something bigger than ourselves when we were broken in despair.  Oh, yes, there was a Counselor in that room.  One we each know intimately.   It was then that I was reminded of the words of Isaiah the prophet in chapter 43.

The next hour was spent in the glorious presence of the Holy Spirit, our Counselor as woman after woman shared about the grace of God.  The grace that He freely lavishes on us for His glory and our good.

I am grateful, thankful and forever changed by the way these unassuming women allowed the Holy Spirit to use them, their brokenness and redemption to His purposes in a small room in Colorado Springs yesterday.   I am humbled that I was called to sit there and witness a glimpse of heaven on earth, behind the torn veil gazing at the Throne.